Rising Water: Royal Valley
I met Rachel, a coordinator for a non-governmental organization, at a restaurant called Mesa. She wore a long, white dress and told me that she had trained as a nurse. It was 11:30 on...
Tagged: Asia Pacific
A Young Visayan Man: Davao
It was a Saturday evening in Davao, at the southern tip of the Philippines, one week after a massive rally for Rodrigo Duterte, the nation’s new president, in a local park. It was the...
The Quad and China
A new alliance is forming in Asia to offer an alternative to the massive infrastructure development initiative, known as One Belt, One Road, pushed by China’s leader, Xi Jinping, for the past two years....
Xi Will Need a Miracle
Xi Jinping will have to pick up the pace of reform after China’s 19th communist party congress concludes this month. If the 64-year-old ruler of the Chinese nation doesn’t find a way to fix...
Xi Keeps Wary Eye on Kim
As Xi Jinping gets ready for China’s 19th communist party congress on October 18th, the 64-year-old ruler of the Chinese nation is keeping a wary eye on Kim Jong-un, the 33-year-old dictator of North...
Shinzo Abe Gets Ready for War
Shinzo Abe won’t stand by and allow Kim Jong-un to fire missiles over Japan any longer. The 62-year-old prime minister of Japan is using the threat of a missile strike from North Korea to...
Japan, India, and China
The leaders of Japan and India are determined not to allow Xi Jinping of China to dominate Asia. Shinzo Abe in Tokyo and Narendra Modi in New Delhi are joining forces to oppose the...
A New Calculus: North Korea
Co-existence for the United States and North Korea is possible, although, as tensions rise steadily, it does not seem so. Donald Trump, North America’s new president, and a newcomer to politics, repeatedly threatens North...
Korean Unity, Trump Failure
Moon Jae-in, South Korea’s president, insists there will never be another war on the Korean peninsula and warns Donald Trump, the U.S. president, not to make a missile strike against Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s...
Burning Birds in the Philippines
In the Philippines, authorities are killing and burning thousands of birds to address an outbreak of avian influenza or bird flu. Already in Pampanga, a region just north of Manila on the main island...